The Difficulties of Falling in Love
by SlytherinPrincess233031
Summary: It's hard enough marrying someone you love, but when you're forced to marry and fall in love? Nearly impossible. But there's no choice now that the Marriage Law has been passed. The only thing we can do is hope for the best and maybe, just maybe, we'll all live happily ever after.
1. The Marriage Law

**CHAPTER 1**

Hermione Granger woke up in the early hours of the morning. However, it wasn't on her own accord. She was woken when a certain long haired ginger started jumping on her bed. "Hermione! Wake up, wake up!" Ginny shouted as if Hermione was two kilometer from her instead of a mere two inches.

"Ginny, get off me," Hermione groaned, sitting up and wiping the sleep from her eyes.

After Voldemort was defeated, Hermione had been staying at the Burrow in Fred and George's old room. The twins were always at their shop in Diagon Alley, trying to clean up the mess that the Death Eaters left when they raided Weasley Wizard Wheezes.

"Hermione! Dad came home with terrible news this morning. The Ministry passed the Marriage Law last night!"

Hermione's eyes went wide upon hearing the news. She had read all about the Marriage Law when she was still in school. It was terrible. The main idea of the law was that after a period of time when a lot of wizard and witches were lost, the Ministry of Magic would run a bunch of test so set wizards and witches, ages sixteen to twenty-seven year olds to set them up with their perfect match. There were a few limitations though, such as two purebloods and two muggleborns are not to be paired together due to the need to have the next generation to consist mostly of half-bloods.

This was a big problem because people were not to choose whom they marry. Their spouse was chosen for them.

Hermione jumped out of the bed and grabbed her bath robe, slipping it on as she ran downstairs. What if she wasn't paried with Ron? Sure, they weren't officially together, and she didn't know if she loved him or not, but they were expected-by everyone-to get married one day.

Ginny followed Hermione down the stairs, bumping into her as Hermione stopped in the doorway of the kitchen.

All the Weasley's were there. Harry had been staying at Grimmauld Place with Teddy, so he was not in attendance and there was no definite that he knew about the law yet.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were sitting in their chairs at the table, the twins leaning against the sink, Percy next to Fred. Ron was sitting with Bill and Charlie at the table as well, Bill's arm around Fleur's shoulders.

There was a pile of letters in the middle of the table, everyone looking at the Ministry sealed envelopes in what only could be fear and anticipation.

Hermione took a step towards the table and picked up the envelope with her name on the front.

"Who's first?" she asked softly, looking over at Ron.

The room was quiet for ten breaths before Ginny interrupted the silence. "I'll go," she picked up her letter and ripped it open, scanning the letter before squealing happily.

"Harry James Potter!" her eyes were bright as she looked first at Hermione then to her mother.

"Oh, congratulations!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, hugging her daughter tightly.

Charlie opened his letter next He read nothing except the name in bold red letters at the bottom of the parchment. "Amanda Brown," he smirked, looking over at Bill. "Remember her? She was Ravenclaw in your year, bloody beautiful."

Bill smiled at his younger brother. "Nice!" he high fived Charlie and sat back down next to Fleur, who was raising an eyebrow at her husband.

When George read "Angelina Marie Johnson," from his letter, he looked at his twin worried eyes since Fred had always fancied her. "She's a nice girl," was all Fred said. "Don't hurt her or I'll hurt you," he winked jokingly.

Percy opened his letter next, confusion written clearly on his face for a second before realization dawned on him. "Luna Elizabeth Lovegood," he said, eyes widening. The younger Weasleys and Hermione burst out laughing, Ron even falling to the ground in hysterics.

Once their laughter had finally subsided, Ron opened his letter with shaking hands. When he said nothing, Fleur looked over at his letter, her eyebrows furrowed. "Who is zis Lavender Brown?" she looked up at her husband.

Hermione's face fell and her fists clenched.

Ron looked up and found Hermione's eyes, worry written clearly on his face. He could tell she was angry, everyone could, though no one said anything.

Hermione ripped her letter open and read it to herself.

_Miss Hermione Granger,_

_Earlier this morning, the Marriage_

_Law was passed by Ministry officials._

_Below is the name of your future_

_husband. The two of you are_

_to be married by teh end of_

_the year and have to conceive_

_a child within the next two years._

_Thank you_

_Sincerely,_

_Lana Tamer_

_Lana Tamer_

Hermione's eyes trailed to the words at the bottom of the parchment.

_Betrothed: Fred Gideon Weasley_

The letter dropped from her hands as she froze.

She heard another letter rip open and a loud "Bloody hell!" from across the room. Hermione's head snapped up and she locked eyes with Fred, her fiancé.

Ron got the idea and jumped out of his seat and ran to the dropped letter, reading his brother's name. "No! No, no, no no, no. NO!" He looked from Hermione to his favorite brother.

Everyone else seemed to realize Hermione had been paired with Fred because the last thing she heard was: "This should be interesting."

Then she passed out.


	2. 21 Days To Fall In Love

**Chapter 2  
21 Days To Fall In Love**

Hermione rolled over on the bed, the soft sheets caressing her skin. Wait, bed? Sheets? SKIN?

She shot up into a sitting position and immediately regretted it. The room swam before her eyes and she could feel a migraine coming on.

"Bloody hell," she groaned, closing her eyes as she slowly lay back down.

"Owl Rita Skeeter. Hermione Granger just swore." She heard someone chuckle to her right.

Her eyes opened once again, turning her head to see Fred sitting on the bed beside hers.

"Fred?" she breathed heavily, sitting up slowly and resting her head on the headboard. "The one and only," he smiled over at her.

"W-what happened?"

Fred looked at her curiously for a second before moving to the bed she was on. "You passed out. Ron caught you and brought you up here..."

Hermione tilted her head slightly, her bushy hair falling over her shoulder. For some reason, Fred seemed angry.

"Where's Ron now?" she asked him.

"Oh he went to Lavender's place. They need to start planning the wedding. As do we," he added in an afterthought. Hermione couldn't den she was angry-just slightly, about Ron being engaged to Lavender Brown. She was getting married to his older brother, after all.

"Oh...okay," was all she said. "Well where's everyone else?"

"Doing the same with their significant other, seeing as we only have two months to be married." Hermione chewed on the inside of her cheek as ideas went through her head. Though she was most definitely not a girly girl, she had secretly been planning her wedding since she was nine years old.

She had always dreamed of love at first sight, having to catch her breath whenever she saw the one she would marry, her heart beating faster and slower at the same time. As she looked at Fred, she felt none of those things. Sure, he was bloody attractive, funny, and smart. He wasn't cocky, but confident. All the things she liked in a man. Though she had to admit, when she was a student, she had always had a little school-girl crush on him. But she did not love him. She was not in love with him.

But that all had to change. She had to marry him, have kids with him even. Then realization hit her like a properly aimed Stupefy. She had to have sex with Fred Weasley. She couldn't help but shiver at the image that came into her mind at that moment before she shut it out completely. He would be her first.

Yes, she, Hermione Jean Granger, was in fact, a virgin.

The concept of having sex with someone had very rarely interested her. Sure, she thought about it sometimes, but she had never purposely thought about it. The farthest she had ever been with anyone was that night sixth year. Slughorn's party, under the mistletoe with Cormac Mcaggen.

She had hated that night, just the thought of his groping hands and wet, sloppy kisses terrified her.

It was only when Fred cleared his throat she remembered he was in the room with her. She must have looked like a complete idiot, staring off into space.

"Oh sorry. I was...thinking," she said to cover up her silence as she tried to remember what Fred had last said.

"I noticed..." he said, looking at Hermione curiously.

"Oh. So I guess we should start planning our wedding..."

"Yeah. I was thinking maybe the Saturday after St. Andrew's Day? That way your parents and mine can talk more, seeing as they've already met so we don't have to go through the awkward in-law meeting," he cracked a smile.

"I think that's a good idea...So it's the...ninth of November now so we have until the...thirtieth until the wedding so we have...twenty one days-"

"To fall in love," he finished her sentence with a small, shy smile.


	3. Questions

_**Chapter Three**_

_**Questions**_

The next few days at the Burrow were hectic for everyone, especially for Hermione and Fred. After they had told Mrs. Weasley about their wedding date, her and Hermione started working on the plans immediately.

Ron, sadly, hadn't spoken a word to either Hermione or Fred, spending most, if not all of his time at Lavender's. Hermione tried as hard as she could not to let this anger her but it wasn't as easy as she would have expected.

Her and Fred tried to spend every waking moment with each other, but because of the shop, he had to go to work during the day, not seeing Hermione until dinner until she decided to come along to work with him. He and George would take turns working, seeing as George had to spend time with Angelina as well.

"So are you really not angry that George and Angelina are to be married?" Hermione asked one day as her and Fred worked in the back of the shop doing inventory. "I mean...she was your girlfriend at Hogwarts for what? A year or so?"

"One year, three months and twelve days, actually," Fred smiled over at her. "But who's counting?" he chuckled.

Hermione rolled her eyes and twirled a fake wand between her fingers. As a student, she thought that these were pointless and a waste of magic but now she could see that they were actually brilliant, everything-well mostly everything-that Weasley Wizard Wheezes sold was brilliant, extraordinary magic.

"What about you? Weren't you and my brother an item?" he looked over at her seriously.

"That...is an excellent question, Fred. Personally, I'm not sure. We snogged from time to time, of course, but not very often. It had always seemed like we...liked each other, it just never went anywhere. We fought too much to actually been in any sort of romantic relationship. I believe we were better just as friends, with Harry being in the middle of us, making sure we didn't kill each other," she giggled.

Fred cracked a smile at that. He could only imagine Hermione using a bunch of spells on Ron and him not even knowing what was going on, scratching his head with a confused expression on his face as he...grew extra limbs or something.

"But apparently Ron thought something different than me, or else he would actually be talking to us. I don't want you and him to fight, you're brothers after all."

Fred shrugged, going through the love potions. "Ron's more of a git than Percy ever was. He'll come around, eventually..."

The room was quiet for about a half hour until George pushed his way through the doors. "How's it going, lovebirds?" he chuckled, throwing his coat over a chair in the corner of the room. Fred and Hermione locked eyes and smiled, turning their attention to George.

"Hang your coat up, Gred," Fred laughed lightly, with a slightly serious tone to his voice.

"You're no fun, Forge," George frowned and took his wand, flicking it at the coat. The coat flew over to the coat rack, hanging over one of the hooks.

"Lazy git," Hermione rolled her eyes at George.

"I resent that, Hermione," he faked hurt, looking offended.

"Well we'd better be off," Fred said, standing up straight as he looked over at Hermione.

"Why? We don't have anything planned for today," Hermione tilted her head.

"Sure, we do," Fred smiled, George smirking knowingly.

"We, Hermione Granger, have our first date tonight."


	4. First Date

_**Chapter Five**_

_**First Date**_

_"We, Hermione Granger, have our first date tonight."_

"A d-date?" Hermione stuttered, wide eyed. "Why do we have a date?"

"Because, Miss Granger. We are to be married in eighteen days, so I believe we should at least attmept to get along and such. Don't you agree?"

Even though Fred was not speaking to his twin, George nodded, a small smile on his lips. "I agree."

Fred rolled his head to look over at his brother, "I wasn't speaking to you."

George just shrugged in response and strode out the door to the front of the shop. Once he was gone, Fred turned his attention back to Hermione. "We'll apparate back to the Burrow and you can take a shower, get dressed, all that jazz. Then I'll pick you up like a gentleman and we'll go on our date, though I'm not telling you what it is. It's romantic," Fred looked incredibly proud of himself.

"Okay? I guess since I have to go along with it. But how about I apparate myself? Since I can apparate by my self."

Fred shrugged. "Whatever you want, my lady," he chuckled.

Hermione rolled her eyes and took her wand out, closing her eyes and concentrated hard on the Burrow. Within seconds, she felt the familiar tug behind her nasel and her stomach lurched dangerously.

When she opened her eyes, she was standing in the middle of Fred and George's room, Ginny tapping her foot nervously on the wood floor. As she heard the pop as Hermione apparated in front of her, she let out a sigh of relief. "Thank Merlin you're here. I thought you'd never show up!'

Hermione gave her friend a questioning look.

"Oh, Freddy sent an owl an hour ago telling me to be waiting for you nad to help you get dressed for your date," she giggled.

"Do you know where we're going?" Hermione asked, bordering excitement. Ginny fought back yet another giggle and nodded, her eyes shining.

"Tell me," Hermione ordered.

Ginny mimed zipping her mouth shut, locking it with a key and throwing that key over her shoulder.

Hermione glared and let out a huge groan. "Fine, I won't ask but at least tell me what to wear." Ginny laughed lightly and shook her head, exasperated. "Come on, Hermione. Try not to seem so disappointed."

With those words, Ginny walked to Fred's bed and picked a dress which was a shimmery dark blue. "Now change," it was Ginny's time to order her around.

Hermione rolled her eyes at her soon to be sister and started changing right in front of her, keeping her bra and panties on. She slipped the dress over her head and walked across the room to look at herself in the mirror.

From the neck down, she looked amazing. The cleated shimmery fabric clung to her body, outlining her curves. "It's...its beautiful, Gin," Hermione smiled, turning around to look at herself from the back, the dress hung just below her knees.

"I know," Ginny smirked. "I love this date thing because it gives me an excuse to shop with Fred's money."

Hermione looked over at Ginny, rolling her eyes. "Okay well now how about my makeup?"

xxx

An hour later, Fred was pacing back and forth in front of the stairs, waiting for his date, his fiancee to come down the stairs.

"Would you stop pacing. You're making me dizzy watching all of your quick turns," George said from his place at the table where he was playing a game of wizarding chest with Harry.

"Stop looking," his twin snapped at him.

"Boys," Mrs. Weasley warned, walking over to Fred and fixing his tie. "Calm down, love. She'll be down in just a moment. You look very handsome," she added, stepping back to take a better look at her son. He wore a brand new muggle black suit, with a dark blue shirt underneath. A simple black tie and a pair of black dress shoes rounded out the outfit, making him look extremly handsome.

"Thanks, Mum," Fred replied, kissing her lightly on the top of her head.

Just then Ginny walked down the stairs with a satisfied grin plastered on her face.

"You owe me big time," she informed her brother as she walked over and sat next to Harry.

"What do you mean I owe you? I gave you a bag full..." Fred started, but stopped short when he

heard gentle clicking of heels walking down the stairs.

There were very few things that could cause Fred to become speechless. But the way that Hermione looked as she walked down the stairs, took his breath away. He always knew she was an attractive women, but he wasn't aware that she could be capable of mesmerizing him so.

"Oh, Hermione, dear, you look lovely," Mrs. Weasley gushed, rushing over to hug her future

daughter-in-law.

"Thank you," the young witch replied, blushing, adding more beauty to her already gorgeous apperance.

Hermione hadn't looked Fred in the eye yet, but she could feel his eyes starring at her. She noticed the black dress shoes that replaced his normal muggle tennis shoes. Cautiously, she looked up to see the handsome suit that he wore for their date. She could belive how regal and gorgeous Fred Weasley looked.

"Well, are you two going to stand there all evening or are you going to go on with your date?" George replied, breaking the spell that took them over.

"I suppose we should go," Fred replied, glaring over at his twin.

"Have a good time," Mrs. Weasley called after the pair as they walked out into the garden.

"You look beautiful," Fred blurted out when they closed the door behind them. You bloody idiot, he thought, mentally kicking himself for not being more smooth.

"Thank you," Hermione replied, smilingover at the mand whose cheeks were a light shade of pink. "You look rather handsome yourself."

The normal cocky grin reappeared on Fred's face as he took his fiancee' hand. "Don't I always?" he teased right before he appearated them without warning.

Seconds later they landed in a dark alley, Hermione tripped and nearly feel over into a puddle.  
"Bloody hell, Fred! You could have at least let me know before you did that!" Hermione exclaimed as he caught her.

"Where would the fun in that be? I'm just glad that you are finally falling for me," he replied, still holding onto her, grinning.

Hermione glared at him for a moment but couldn't help but smile just a little bit.

"So where are we?" she asked, standing straight, trying to fix her dress.

"London," he answered, offering Hermione his arm.

"London? As in muggle London?" Hermione wondered.

"Yes, I wasn't aware that there was another London," Fred replied, leading them out of the alley onto a busy sidewalk. He led her through the crowd a few blocks until he opened the door to oneof the many buildings.

"Welcome to The Tuscan Sun. How can I help you?" the mater'd asked in a avery thick Italian accent.

"Weasley, party of two," Fred informed the balding man.

"Oh, ! We've been expecting you. Please, follow me," the older gentlemne gushed quickly grabbing two menus.

"Have you been here before?" Hermione whispered, wondering why the man was treating Fred as if he were Merlin himself.

"I've never eatten here before," he answered as the man stopped at a booth in the back of the resturant.

"Will this table be alright for you and your amore'?" he asked, grinning broadly at Hermione.

"This is wonderful. Thank you," Fred said, pulling something out of his pocket and handing it to the man.

"Thank you. Your waiter will be with you in just a few moments. If you need anything, you just let me know," the man said, kissing Hermione's hand before walking away.

"How much did you give him? He looks exceptionally happy," Hermione observed as she carefully sat down in the booth.

"I'm not sure how much I gave him. This muggle money is bloody difficult to figure out."

"Fred!" she laughed, shaking her head. "You need to learn about these things."

"I've tired. It just doesn't made very much sense to me," he shrugged, picking up his menu to look through.

"Well, I'll teach you. No husband of mine is going to be ignorant about something that is so easily taught," she declared, picking up her own menu.

Fred glanced over his menu at the beautiful girl that sat across from him. He was pretty sure that he hadn't ever been called anyones husband before. He found that he quite enjoyed the thought of it.

"I don't think I could take another bite if I had to," Hermione complained happily as they walked out of the resturant a few hours later.

"I agree," Fred replied, smiling down at the woman he had just spend the last few hours with. It had been the best few hours he had ever spend with anyon. They had talked and laughed, just enjoying one another's company.

"You know, Italian food is my favorite," she informed him as they walked slowly down the sidewalk.

"I do know," he said, leading her gently across the street.

"You did? I don't think I've ever told you that," Hermione mused, raking her brain to remember if she had or not.

"Ginny told me," he informed her. "I wanted tonight to be speical for you, so I asked her what some of your favorite things were."

Hermione stopped walking and looked up at Fred. "You asked Ginny what some of my favorite things are?"

"Yeah, I did," he admitted shyly, nervously running his hand through his hair.

"That's really sweet Fred. Thank you," she said, leaning over and hugging the tall man, surprising him.

Quickly regaining his composure, he wrapped his arms around her. "Your welcome."

"So, what else did you find out about me?" Hermione wondered taking his hand as they continued their evening stroll.

"You'll have to wait and see," he teased her.

She laughed, not at all upset that he was being so secretive. She was kind of liking the fact that he had done so much research just to make the evening special for her. It was one of the sweetest things that anyone had ever done for her.

"Well, could you tell me where we are going next?" Hermione asked.

"Actually, we're here," he answered.

She looked up and saw beautiful trees, gorgeous flowers and amazing fountains. "Are we at a park?" Hermione asked excitedly.

Fred laughed at her giddyness. "Yes, we are."

"Its beautiful," she whispered as she took in the old fashioned lamp post that lined the path they were on. They walked in comfortable silence, enjoying the beauty that was around them.

"So you really love parks?" Fred asked after a few minutes of watching the happy expression that was plastered across the young witches face.

"I love parks. I've loved them since I was a little girl. Both of my parents worked really hard when I was little to get their office going, so I was constantly left with a nanny. On the weekend though, they always made sure that I was there number one priority. My dad would always let my mum sleep late and he knew I was an early riser. So we would leave the house and go to the park across the street from our home. He would push me on the swing for hours and hours, until my mum would come and get us. She would have pastrys and milk for us and we would have a picnic, right there in the park. Its some of my favorite memories," Hermione shared with him, smiling at the memories.

"Sounds like you like to swing," he observed, leading her off the path they had been walking along.

"Oh, yes. I always did. It felt like I was flying."

"And yet, you can't stand brooms," he replied laughing.

"I know! Its one of the strangest things. I think part of it is that the swing is still connected to the ground," she said.

"Would you like to swing now?" he asked suddenly, causing her to look up. He had lead her to a little play ground off of the path, to a three seat swing set.

"Really? But I have a dress on," she blurted, wishing that Ginny had let her wear slacks.  
Fred grinned and pulled out a small peice of cloth from his pocket. He quickly looked around, making sure that there were no muggles around, then pulled out his want to make the piece of cloth its original size. "Here's you a pair of shorts you can slip on, if you like."  
Hermione grinned, utterly astonished that this man had literally thought of everything.

"Will you make sure no one can see me?" she asked, taking the shorts from him.

"Sure," he replied, quickly placing a concealment charm around her so that she could slip the shorts on in private.

"Thank you," Hermoine, a few seconds later as she walked toward the swings. She carefully took her heels off before sinking her feet into the sand that was around the play set. Grinning, she quickly made her way to the middle swing which had always been her favorite.

"Why did you pick the middle swing?" Fred wondered as he layed his jacket next to her shoes. He walked over and took one of the other swings.

"Because, I didn't want to run into one of the poles. I was terrified of hitting one of them knocking myself out and waking up with amnesia, not being able to remember any of the things that I had learned," she answered, chuckling.

Fred laughed loudly, almost falling out of the swing. "Hermione, that's one of the funniest things I've ever hear. You had quite an imagination, didn't you?"

"I did. One of my greatest fears growing up was that I would forget everything I ever learned," she replied, swinging gently.

"And now one of your biggest fears is flying," he observed, standing up and walking to stand behind her. "May I push you?"

"I don't know," she replied, nervously. She hadn't been pushed on a single since she was nine years old.

"I'll only push you as high as high as you want me to," he promised, leaning around her to look her in the eye.

She could smell the intoxicating scent that had always intriged her any time Fred was around. Hermione sighed, realizing that it would be very difficult for her to say no to him when he looked at her like that, especially with that smile. "Okay."

Fred grinned and grabbed the chains, pulled her back and let her go.

The thrill of the wind sweeping through her hair was delightful. She forgot how free she had always felt while she swung.

"Higher!" she exclaimed, pumping her legs to help.

Fred laughed and gave her a good push, causing her to go higher. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"I forgot how amazing this is! You should try it," Hermione requested, grinning.

"I believe I will," he replied. He sat in the swing and did what Hermione instructed him to do, causing himself to go just as high as she was.

"Isn't this amazing?" she asked him.

"Its fun," he admitted. "But I believe flying on a broom is more fun."

"Your intitalled to be wrong," she replied, causing him to laugh.

They stayed like that swinging talking and laughing until Fred looked down at his watch.

"Oh, Merlin! Mum's gong to have my head for keeping you out so late," he exclaimed, stopping his swing.

"What time is it?" she wondered, stopping her own swing and hopping off.

"Its a quarter after one," Fred replied in a panic.

"Bloody hell! It doesn't feel that late," she replied, hurriedly putting her shoes on.

Fred grinned. "You've been hanging around Ron for too long."

"I suppose I have," Hermione said. Fred held out his hand for her to grab and looked around to make sure that there were no muggles around before apparating them to the Burrow.

He walked her slowly to the back door and smiled down at her nervously. "I hope you had a good time tonight!"

"It was one of the best night ever. Thank you, Fred," Hermione said, smiling shyly.

Fred leanded down and kissed her gentley on her check. "Good night, Hermione," he said, before appearating away, leaving Hermione standing on the doorstep, happy and breathless.


End file.
